Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Babbin, A. R., Buchwald, C., Morel, F. M. M., Wankel, S. D., & Ward, B. B. Nitrite oxidation exceeds reduction and fixed nitrogen loss in anoxic Pacific waters. Marine Chemistry, 224, (2020): 103814, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2020.103814.
Description:
The diversity of nitrogen-based dissimilatory metabolisms in anoxic waters continues to increase with additional studies to the marine oxygen deficient zones (ODZs). Although the microbial oxidation of nitrite (NO2–) has been known for over a century, studies of the pathways and microbes involved have generally proceeded under the assumption that nitrite oxidation to nitrate requires dioxygen (O2). Anaerobic NO2– oxidation until now has been conclusively shown only for anammox bacteria, albeit only as a limited sink for NO2– in their metabolism compared to the NO2– reduced to N2. Here, using direct experimental techniques optimized for replicating in situ anoxic conditions, we show that NO2– oxidation is substantial, widespread, and consistent across the ODZs of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Regardless of the specific oxidant, NO2– oxidation rates are up to an order of magnitude larger than simultaneous N2 production rates for which these zones are known, and cannot be explained by anammox rates alone. Higher rates of NO2– oxidation over reduction in anoxic waters are paradoxical but help to explain how anammox rates can be enhanced over denitrification in shallow anoxic waters (σθ 〈 26.4) at the edge of the ODZs but not within the ODZ core. Furthermore, nitrite oxidation may be the key to reconciliation of the perceived imbalance of the global fixed nitrogen loss budget.
Description:
This work was funded by National Science Foundation grants OCE–1029951 to B.B.W, BIO–1402109 to A.R.B., and OCE-1260373 to S.D.W. Additional financial support to A.R.B. was provided by Simons Foundation grant 622065 and the generous contributions of Dr. Bruce L. Heflinger.
Keywords:
Nitrogen cycling
;
Oxygen deficient zones
;
Nitrite oxidation
;
Denitrification
;
Anammox
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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